As for Ibn ʿAbbās, al-Bukhārī (1) related: “Yahyā ibn Bukayr (2) narrated to us; Bakr narrated to us, from Jaʿfar, from ʿIrāk ibn Mālik, from ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUtbah, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: ‘The moon was split in the time of the Prophet ﷺ.’”
Al-Bukhārī recorded it again—and so did Muslim (3)—through the transmission of Bakr, who is Ibn Muḍar (4), from Jaʿfar—namely, Ibn Rabīʿah—from ʿIrāk with this same chain.
Ibn Jarīr (5) said: “Ibn al-Muthannā narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Aʿlā narrated to us; Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind narrated to us, from (6) Ibn ʿAbbās (7) regarding the verse, ‘The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split. Yet if they see a sign they turn away and say, “Persistent magic.”’ (Q 54:1-2). He said: ‘That has already happened; it occurred before the Hijrah. The moon split until they could see its two halves.’ ”
Al-ʿAwfī likewise transmitted it from Ibn ʿAbbās—may Allah be pleased with him—though his report is mursal.
Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nuʿaym (8) said: “Sulaymān ibn Aḥmad narrated to us; Bakr ibn Sahl (9) narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Ghanī ibn Saʿīd narrated to us; Mūsā ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān narrated to us, from Ibn Jurayj, from ʿAṭāʾ, from Ibn ʿAbbās, and from Muqātil, from al-Ḍaḥḥāk, from Ibn ʿAbbās concerning the verse, ‘The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split.’ Ibn ʿAbbās said:
“The idolaters gathered around the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—among them al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah, Abū Jahl ibn Hishām, al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil, al-ʿĀṣ ibn Hishām, al-Aswad ibn ʿAbd Yaghūth, al-Aswad ibn al-Muṭṭalib, Zamʿah ibn al-Aswad, al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith, and others like them. They said to the Prophet ﷺ: ‘If you are truthful, split the moon for us into two parts—one half over Abū Qubays and the other over Quʿayqiʿān.’
“The Prophet ﷺ replied, ‘If I do so, will you believe?’ They said, ‘Yes.’—and it was a night when the moon was full. He therefore asked Allah, Majestic and Exalted, to grant him what they had requested. The moon then appeared, half of it over Abū Qubays and half over Quʿayqiʿān, while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was calling out, ‘O Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Asad! O al-Arqam ibn Abī al-Arqam! Bear witness!’”